Google Connect

🎥 Introduction to Google Connect

Watch this interactive video to learn more about Google Connect. 🔊 Sound on!

Google Connect is a Stanza+ feature. Learn more about how to start your free trial.

Background

We built Google Connect as the answer to all the "clunkiness" around subscribing to calendars with Google Calendar. These issues fall into a few buckets:

1. Can't subscribe on mobile: Google doesn't let you subscribe to new calendars on iOS or Android [source]. Instead, you need to subscribe on desktop and then manually sync with every device.

2. Slow and inconsistent updates: Google Calendar can take up to 48 hours to update a calendar subscription, and there is no way to force refresh a calendar. There's also no way of knowing when your calendar was last updated.

3. Events aren't always added correctly: This is related to syncing updates, but in some cases a calendar will be correctly added to your Google Calendar but events won't appear.

4. Account & timezone issues: Google Calendar may not add the calendar to the right account if you're logged in with multiple emails. TV calendars work fine on other calendar apps but don't appear at the right time in Google Calendar.

To address the above, we've launched Google Connect.

Google Connect

With Google Connect, you'll give us background access to your Google Calendar. We then directly interface with Google Calendar's API to manage your Stanza Calendars.

As you add / remove calendars or groups on Stanza, we'll keep your Google Calendar in sync.

Why is Google Connect faster at updating than manually subscribing to a calendar?

With Google Connect, we push updates to your calendar. When you subscribe to a calendar through Google, you need to wait until Google pulls for those updates. That could be as infrequent as every 48 hours, and you have no control over it.

How do you handle timezones?

Since events are only added to the Google account you connect with Stanza, we can access your calendar's timezone to make sure all events are added correctly.

Note: All calendars or groups added via Stanza will now have a + added to the name so you can easily differentiate them.

FAQs

Will Google Connect work for adding calendars on mobile?

Yes, you can add calendars on Stanza on any mobile device. These calendars will automatically appear within your Google Calendar, across all devices.

What permissions am I giving Stanza with Google Connect?

You're giving us background access for managing your calendars. We only access calendars that you've added through Stanza.

How fast are calendar updates using Google Connect?

When you add / remove a calendar or group on Stanza, the updates are near real-time. We also update your calendar on a nightly basis with any changes we pick up on.

Finally, you can also force refresh your calendar at any point of time.

I've subscribed to calendars & groups before signing up for Google Connect. Will those be migrated over?

Yes, all existing calendars & groups will be migrated over once you sign up for Google Connect.

There will be a Google icon with a migration status next to every calendar on your Library page.

How will I know when a calendar was last synced?

On your Library page, click on the three dots dropdown to see a status update with when that specific calendar was last updated.

How do I force refresh a calendar?

Click on "Force Refresh" in the three dots dropdown to force refresh a calendar.

I'd still like to use other calendar apps. How do I export a calendar link from Google Calendar to other calendar apps that I'm using?

1. In your Google Calendar account, select My Calendars and choose the vertical ellipsis (⋮) to the right of the calendar name.

1. Select Settings and Sharing, scroll down to Integrate Calendar. In the Secret address in iCal format box, select the Copy to clipboard button:

1. Follow instructions to manually import the copied calendar link into your calendar app of choice.

Troubleshoot

I'm not seeing the "Connect with Google" top sticky bar when I sign in. How do I fix this?

The "Connect with Google" sticky bar is shown only to users who have signed in with Google. Please sign out and sign back in with the "Google" option here:

Not all my calendars are displaying on the Google Calendar app on mobile. How do I fix this?

Check out this article on how to troubleshoot your Android Google Calendar app.

What happens if I accidentally delete a calendar in my Google Calendar?

Head back to your Library page to force refresh the calendar. It will be re-added to your Google Calendar.

If you want to permanently delete a calendar, please delete it on Stanza.

A calendar is still in my Google Calendar but not on my Stanza account anymore. Can I delete it from my Google Calendar?

Yes, you can safely delete any calendar that isn't in your Stanza account. Those extra calendars would also be caught in the nightly run, and deleted then.

Some of my calendars in my Library page show a "Google error" icon. How do I fix this?

Force refresh the calendar to re-sync it. If the error persists, please submit a ticket here.

I'm seeing an error message that I've hit Google Calendar's API limits. What does this mean and how do I resolve this?

Google Connect uses Google Calendar's API in the background to add, remove & update calendars. Google Calendar's API sets a maximum number of requests you can make in a short period. Hitting this limit triggers the "Rate Limit Exceeded" error, which then prevents us from using Google Calendar's API any further to make changes on your behalf.

Why does this happen? Google imposes these limits to keep their services stable and fair for all users. Too many rapid requests at once can slow the system down.

How do I resolve this? Usually, waiting a few minutes allows the limit to reset. If the error persists, try waiting a bit longer—up to 15 or 30 minutes—before attempting adding, removing or force refreshing calendars.

How can I avoid this in the future? Spread out adding & removing calendars instead of sending them all at once.

Do I need to contact support or change any settings? No special action is needed other than waiting. Once the limit resets, you can continue as usual.